Another Viewpoint: Cy pres bills would be good for Ohio

Another Viewpoint is a column The News-Herald makes available so all sides of issues may by aired. Deborah Foley lives in Concord Township and is president of Lake County United Way. Tony George lives in Westlake and is the owner of the Harry Buffalo restaurant chain and Westlake Jaguar Land Rover.

There has been a lot of discussion about cy pres. In fact, a Viewpoint appeared last week in The News-Herald written by a paid lobbyist that indicated cy pres would harm jobs, charities and Ohio's recovery. The lobbyist also asserts that judges and juries cannot be trusted and even proclaims that cy pres can lead to corruption. Oh my.

She doth protest too much -- she should have thrown in country, apple pie, global warming, and as our dads would have said, "the kitchen sink!"

Cy pres is an old established law that allows unclaimed funds from class action law suits to be used for charity. Period.

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First, let's understand class action lawsuits and cy pres. Some class action lawsuits are filed for silly things, but most deal with serious fraud and wrongdoing.

The BP oil spill is a good example. Another is financial mismanagement of retirement funds. These could be class action lawsuits where the wrongdoer is held accountable.

Some huge companies are involved in class action lawsuits all the time. They know how the game is played. If they keep dragging out the case over a long time, the fewer class members will be found. And the fewer people found, the more the wrongdoer gets to keep the settlement dollars.

The crux of the issue is this:

Without cy pres, the unclaimed settlement dollars go back to the wrongdoing company.

With cy pres, the unclaimed dollars are directed toward charity.

It boils down to this -- wrongdoers pay the full amount they agree to at the time of settlement. No more. No less.

Pending legislation in the Ohio House and Senate, House Bill 427 and Senate Bill 157, will make cy pres mandatory in class action settlements or judgments. This will mean there will be no more partial payments and money will not revert back to the wrongdoer.

Other states have successfully passed this bill with no consequences. These states include Illinois, South Dakota, North Carolina, California, Washington and Massachusetts.

The lobbyist who wrote the Viewpoint wants you to believe that cy pres will cost more for lawsuits and companies won't settle. She wrote that justice would be compromised, corruption was possible and cy pres will hurt charities.

I cannot understand the logic. The lobbyist forgot to mention that cy pres doesn't increase the amount of settlement one penny. Cy pres comes into effect after the settlement is determined.

Cy pres only demands that agreed upon dollar amounts are paid in full. The other states who practice cy pres confirmed they saw no negative impact on business.

The lobbyist next asserts that judges and jurors might be bought off with cy pres dollars to benefit themselves and their interests. This is an affront to our whole judicial system.

Likewise, the lobbyist asserts that businesses will not give to charities anymore because cy pres will be in effect.

To say that companies will stop giving to charity because of cy pres attacks the American philosophy of giving. Companies know it is good practice to give to charities where they operate and their employees live. Companies also embrace charitable giving because it is the way they do business and it is the right thing to do.

Voluntary cy pres agreements, while currently rare in legal proceedings, have led to nearly $20 million forwarded to local charities in the last few years. These are funds that would have otherwise stayed with wrongdoers.

Passage of the law will result in $60 million per year for Ohio charities.

Should cy pres dollars return to the wrongdoer or should they be put to good use doing charitable work?

That is the question. I hope everyone lets their state representatives and senators know what your answer would be.

For us, the answer is straight forward: Pay the full amount of the agreed-upon settlement and let everyone benefit.